Jake Paul believes he will have earned his spot in the WBC's world cruiserweight rankings if he beats Tommy Fury tomorrow night.
Reports that the winner of the bout will be placed as high as No.15 in the governing body's list are exaggerated, but a top 40 berth will be offered to whomever comes out on top in Riyadh. This is despite the fact that Paul has yet to beat a legitimate boxer - facing just one true cruiserweight in Anderson Silva - and Fury has beaten just two opponents with a winning record.
Fans have been outraged by the news, but Paul believes that given his keenness to take on challenges such as Fury so early in his career that he will be deserving of such an honour should he win. He faces a tough challenge in the 8-0 Brit, whose older brother is world heavyweight champion Tyson.
"I think it's cool, I guess," Paul shrugged during an exclusive chat with Mirror Fighting. "The rankings don't matter to me, I'm already a champion in my mind, in my heart and in my soul. So if they want to put a number on me then that's great, but I will say look at your favourite pro boxer, think of them right now, and go look at their seventh fight.
"See who they fought, it wasn't an undefeated guy, not a top prospect. I'm challenging myself more than any of the legends have. More than [Mike] Tyson, more than Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather in their seventh fight. Go and look who they fought - it was taxi drivers so in that sense I think that the ranking is deserved."
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Paul's insistence that he would be deserving of such a prestigious position is indicative of his confidence. But he tends to steer clear of ever disrespecting the sport too much by attempting to inject himself into legitimate world title discussions on a serious level.
He refused to engage in a feud with Mairis Briedis last year despite his holding the IBF cruiserweight title, and has steered clear of making abrasive comments on the co-main event for Sunday's show which features a world title bout. The WBC's belt will be on the line when two-weight champion Badou Jack moves up to face Junior Ilunga Makabu for the title.
Paul has previously crowned himself a champion on a number of occasions, and was even gifted a belt by the WBC for his first win; a white collar bout with YouTuber Deji. He was given a Triller belt for his win over Ben Askren by the promotion and created his own 'Most Valuable Boxer' title for his rematch with Tyron Woodley.
